USC football team stripped of 2004 national title

Tuesday

Jun 7, 2011 at 12:36 AMJun 7, 2011 at 2:01 AM

The Bowl Championship Series stripped Southern California of its 2004 title yesterday, leaving that season without a BCS champion. The announcement was no surprise. BCS officials had said USC was in danger of having its championship vacated after the Trojans were hit with heavy NCAA sanctions last year for rules violations committed during the 2004 and ’05 seasons.

The Bowl Championship Series stripped Southern California of its 2004 title yesterday, leaving that season without a BCS champion. The announcement was no surprise. BCS officials had said USC was in danger of having its championship vacated after the Trojans were hit with heavy NCAA sanctions last year for rules violations committed during the 2004 and ’05 seasons. The NCAA ruled star tailback Reggie Bush received improper extra benefits during those seasons and was ineligible when he played. One of Pat Haden’s first moves when he took over as athletic director last year was to give back the school’s copy of the Heisman Trophy that Bush won in 2005. Bush later relinquished his own Heisman, and the trust in charge of handing out the award announced there would be no winner for 2005.

Former Mets and Phillies star Lenny Dykstra was charged yesterday in San Fernando, Calif., with grand theft auto and drug possession. Prosecutors claim he used phony information to lease a car from a Southern California dealership. Dykstra, 48, was charged with 25 misdemeanor and felony counts of grand theft auto, attempted grand theft auto, identity theft and other crimes, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. He faces up to 12 years in state prison if convicted. Robison said. Police who arrested Dykstra April 14 found cocaine, Ecstasy and the synthetic human growth hormone Somatropin at his San Fernando Valley home, the statement said. Robison said Dykstra had not obtained a lawyer to represent him in the case. “Of course I’m not guilty,” Dykstra told the New York Daily News yesterday. “The car got stolen all right — stolen by them. I don’t have it anymore. It’s gone like my computer, my phone, my clothes.”

Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano has apologized to closer Carlos Marmol for second-guessing how he pitched in Chicago’s most recent loss. Zambrano criticized Marmol’s approach after a 3-2 loss Sunday at St. Louis. He said Marmol should have thrown Ryan Theriot a fastball rather than a slider, which the former Cubs player hit for a tying double in the ninth inning. Albert Pujols won it with a homer in the 10th. Zambrano said before last night’s game at Cincinnati that he was wrong to criticize Marmol that way. He said he made the remarks out of frustration. Manager Mike Quade also talked to Zambrano and said he won’t be fined.

Marv Albert is returning to NFL coverage, this time for CBS, it was announced by CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus. The longtime play-by-play announcer worked for NBC Sports from 1977 to ’97. He was the play-by-play voice for Westwood One Radio’s coverage of Monday Night Football from 2002 to ’09 alongside Boomer Esiason.

NASCAR fined team owner Richard Childress $150,000 and placed him on probation through the end of the year for an altercation with driver Kyle Busch. The 65-year-old grandfather approached Busch after Saturday’s Trucks Series race at Kansas Speedway and apparently punched him several times. Childress was upset that Busch had bumped Joey Coulter on the cool-down lap after the race.

The Golden State Warriors have hired television analyst Mark Jackson as their new head coach. The team announced the decision to have Jackson replace Keith Smart yesterday. The 46-year-old Jackson has no coaching experience but has been the lead analyst for ABC and ESPN’s NBA coverage in recent seasons. Jackson will begin his duties when the NBA finals end. Jackson played 17 years in the NBA for New York, the Clippers, Indiana, Denver, Toronto, Utah and Houston, making the playoffs 14 times.

Paul and Jason Parajeckas of Pleasant Valley are in second place after the first day of the NEPGA Pro-Assistant Championship held at Bay Club in Mattapoisett. They shot a 5-under 66, posting a 33 on both the front and back nine, and trail Travis Hall and Daniel Dwyer of Ipswich CC by a stroke. The tournament concludes today.